3M Has Sued 5 Vendors Who Targeted Emergency Officials in 3 States Offering Billions of Nonexistent N95 Respirators
01 Maggio 2020 - 1:18PM
Business Wire
None of the defendants in the lawsuits is connected to 3M,
nor had access to the billions of 3M brand respirators they tried
to sell officials in Florida, Wisconsin and Indiana at highly
inflated prices.
3M has filed five legal actions in federal courts in Florida,
Wisconsin and Indiana as part of its global effort to protect the
public and combat fraud and counterfeiting. The lawsuits involve
separate defendants who attempted to target government officials
with fraudulent offers to sell N95 respirators—in one case claiming
to have up to five billion respirators—at inflated prices, all
while falsely affiliating themselves with 3M.
“We are grateful that in each of these cases, the false offers
were reported to 3M, and the attempts to deceive public officials
did not succeed,” said Ivan Fong, 3M Senior Vice President, General
Counsel & Secretary. “We will continue to take legal action in
cases like these and are working closely with national and
international law enforcement to help stop the perpetrators of
these unlawful and unethical schemes.”
In the following four cases filed late Thursday, and the
Wisconsin lawsuit filed on Tuesday, 3M is seeking injunctive relief
to require the companies to cease illegal activities. 3M will
donate any damages recovered to COVID-19-related nonprofit
organizations.
- In federal court in Tallahassee, Florida 3M sued Atlanta,
Georgia-based 1 Ignite Capital LLC, Institutional Financial Sales
LLC, and Auta Lopes for attempting to sell 10 million N95
respirators to the Florida Division of Emergency Management at
nearly 460% percent over list prices, falsely claiming that they
were working with 3M.
- In federal court in Tampa, Florida 3M sued St. Petersburg,
Florida-based TAC2 Global LLC for claiming to be a 3M distributor
and for trying to sell the Florida Department of Management
Services State Emergency Operations Center 5-10 million N95
respirators and hand sanitizer at highly inflated prices. TAC2
falsely claimed to be a 3M supplier.
- In federal court in Orlando, Florida 3M sued King Law Center,
Chartered for twice pretending to be affiliated with 3M as a vendor
and escrow agent and for trying to sell the Florida Department of
Management Services State Emergency Operation Center 5 million N95
respirators at 460% over list prices.
- In federal court in Indianapolis, Indiana, 3M sued Zachary
Puznak and two related entities, Zenger LLC and ZeroAqua, after
Puznak claimed to be working with 3M and purported to be able to
sell up to 5 billion 3M respirators to the state of Indiana at more
than double the list price. Puznak accused Indiana’s state
employees of “paranoid irrationality” for asking for confirmation
of any connection to 3M and falsely claimed 3M executives had told
him to abandon the deal, according to 3M’s complaint. In fact,
Puznak has no connection whatsoever to 3M.
- On April 28, 2020, 3M filed a lawsuit in federal court in
Madison, Wisconsin against Hulomil LLC for trying to sell 250,000
N95 respirators to state officials at inflated prices, while trying
to force Wisconsin to sign a nondisclosure agreement about the deal
and falsely claiming to have “direct access from 3M.”
3M has not changed the prices it charges for respirators as a
result of the COVID-19 outbreak. 3M is working with national and
international law enforcement agencies, state Attorneys General,
and the largest online retail and tech companies in the world to
identify illegal activity and help pursue and stop these schemes.
The goal is to prevent fraud before it starts and stop it where it
is happening.
3M has filed a total of 10 lawsuits in April in its effort to
combat fraud. 3M has deployed its internal litigation team, working
closely with volunteers from its network of outside counsel and
resources, across the country in its ongoing efforts to investigate
and take action against unlawful and unethical attempts to take
advantage of the COVID-19 crisis.
In the Florida cases, 3M is represented by a team from the law
firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP including Wilson Chu, Michael
Chu, Michael Weaver, Joseph Wasserkrug, Colin Stalter, and Kristin
Taylor. In the Wisconsin case, 3M is represented by Goldman Ismail,
led by Andrew Rima, Shayna Cook, and Betsy Farrington. In the
Indiana case, 3M is represented by the law firm Faegre Drinker
including John W. Ursu, Kerry Bundy and Isaac Hall in Minneapolis,
and Kathy Osborn and Louis Perry in Indianapolis.
Resources to fight fraud
3M has created a hotline to call for information on how to help
identify authentic 3M products and to ensure products are from 3M
authorized distributors. That number, in the U.S. and Canada, is
(800) 426-8688.
If customers have concerns about potentially fraudulent
activity, price gouging, or counterfeit 3M products, they can
report their concerns at 3M’s website.
About 3M At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to
improve lives daily. With $32 billion in sales, our 96,000
employees connect with customers all around the world. Learn more
about 3M’s creative solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com
or on Twitter @3M or @3MNews.
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Jennifer Ehrlich 651-736-9430
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